Beatles News
On October 28, 1961, a young 18-year-old entered NEMS, the largest record store in Liverpool, England and asked the manager if they had ‘My Bonnie’ by Tony Sheridan & The Beatles in stock.
Without realising it, this young man — Raymond Jones — had just changed the life of the manager and owner, Brian Epstein. Incidentally, Raymond Jones became bass guitarist with The Dakotas, Billy J. Kramer’s backing group and another of Epstein’s stable.
Earlier in 1961 Tony Sheridan was featuring in The Top Ten Club in Hamburg, Germany, when he was approached by Bert Kaempfert, a German arranger, composer and orchestra leader, who had written ‘Strangers In The Night’ for Frank Sinatra. Kaempfert offered Sheridan a recording contract with Polydor, where he was a record producer.
The Beatles were selected to be his backing group, but Kaempfert wasn’t very impressed with the group, although he liked an instrumental they played ‘Cry For A Shadow’.
Source: Benjamin Hill
In an exclusive conversation, the music legend speaks about his passions and how everyone can make a difference.
Paul McCartney’s campaign for people to reduce their meat consumption is a deeply personal one.
McCartney, a global icon and former Beatle who is often known more for his music than his activism, is a vegetarian himself and discussed his personal choices and passions in an interview with Susan Goldberg, editor-in-chief of National Geographic magazine.
“I support a lot of causes, but this particular one is personal for me because it is how I live,” said McCartney. “Through this campaign, I can say to people, ‘Just try it’ and show that it can actually be quite fun when you look at what you do, what you eat, how you live and think, ‘is this what I'm gonna do for the rest of my life or would it be interesting to try making a change?’”
Source: news.nationalgeographic.com
As Catalan President Carles Puigdemont spoke at a press conference in Brussels, details emerged of a Madrid document that partly blames the current crisis in Spain on a number of well known people from around the world. The Spanish government specifically named WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and artist Yoko Ono as encouraging the Catalan independence referendum.
Brussels press conference
At the press conference, Puigdemont made it clear he was not in Brussels to claim asylum:
He also said he accepted the snap election for Catalonia, imposed by Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, on 21 December.
He added that he and his colleagues would return to Catalonia once it is guaranteed they could act “with freedom and without threats”.
Source: Tom Coburg
Although most of us might instantly jump to The Beatles when someone says George Harrison, in actual fact Harrison’s career took a leap almost as impressive in the 1990s.
After the release of his hit single I’ve Got My Mind Set On You in 1987, Harrison skyrocketed as a less than likely pop sensation of the time. He then jumped on the road for an unexpected tour alongside Eric Clapton across Japan in 1991.
Source: hhhappy.com
Fans are flocking to the Abraham Chavez Theater to see Ringo Starr and His All-Star Band.
A former member of The Beatles, Ringo is known for providing lead vocals in hits like "Yellow Submarine" and "Little Help From My Friends".
He last performed in El Paso in 2003. George Reynoso, owner of All That Music & Video, says none of the other band members have ever performed in El Paso.
"It's huge, especially if you're into The Beatles and Beatles music," Reynoso said.
Reynoso describes The Beatles as legendary. He says Ringo wasn't taken very seriously, after joining the band in 1962, replacing Pete Best.
"But in time as The Beatles gained credibility so did Ringo as the world's most very very highly respected musician drummer," Reynoso said.
Ringo performed in Las Vegas Sunday night. He's expected to sing his classics, along with songs from his solo records in El Paso Monday.
The show starts at 8 p.m. Doors open at 7 p.m.
Officials at the theater say they're expecting the show to be a sell-out.
John Lennon’s Holiday Card to Yoko Ono’s Ex
During the holiday season of 1968, Yoko Ono’s second husband, Anthony Cox, received a card from Ono, then still his wife, and her boyfriend, John Lennon. In it, Lennon and Ono informed Cox that Ono had taken most of her things from her shared home with Cox—in other words, she was officially moving on with Lennon, whom she met in 1966. This card, not exactly full of holiday mirth, can now belong to a lucky Beatles fan for $15,000 via momentsintime.com.
Though that seems like a steep price for a Christmas card, the note does contain a bonus message for Cox, from Lennon. In a separate note written on Apple Records letterhead, Lennon asked Cox if he could send two of Ono’s short films and master tapes from a recent performance with jazz musician Ornette Coleman. “Also, we want to get on with producing Ornette-Yoko record under Apple before Easter. That will be very good,” he wrote.
Source: Hilary Weaver
The rare pre-production Yesterday and Today album featured the butcher cover
Controversially, it showed Fab Four draped in meat and decapitated baby dolls
John Lennon's personal copy was salvaged by a fan who has put it up for auction
It will go under the hammer on November 11 in Dallas, TX, with a $200k estimate.
John Lennon's personal copy of a Beatles album with hand-drawn sketches dubbed the world's rarest album is set to fetch more than $200,000 as it goes up for auction.
The rare pre-production Yesterday and Today album with the infamous butcher cover will go up for auction on November 11 in Dallas, Texas.
It was John Lennon's personal copy and sports one of his illustrations on the back of a man with his shovel and a dog in front of a setting sun.
The Yesterday and Today prototype was pulled two days after its release because of the controversial cover artwork and all were destroyed apart from a few - including this one owned by Lennon himself - before a tamer version was hurriedly re-released.
Source: Gareth Davies For Mailonline
A set of unseen images of John Lennon, which were in a "junk drawer" for over 30 years because they were thought to have no value, have been unveiled.
The 26 negatives, dating from 1970, were brought to a valuation day at Liverpool's The Beatles Story museum.
Their owner said his late father may have come by them while studying art in the 1970s.
The "intimate portraits" were "a rare find" and could be worth £10,000, auctioneer Darren Julien said.
He added that it was "not often when you find images of John Lennon that have never before been seen by the public".
Source: BBC
Paul McCartney has paid tribute to late rock and roll icon Fats Domino, describing meeting his idol and calling him a “huge influence” on The Beatles.
Domino passed away on Tuesday (October 24) at the age of 89. He died of natural causes.
McCartney has now posted a tribute to his official website, calling Domino a “great rock ’n’ roll pianist and singer” and describing him as “truly magnificent”.
“We were excited to meet Fats once in his home town of New Orleans,” McCartney wrote. “He was wearing a huge star spangled diamond encrusted watch which was our first encounter with bling!”
Source: nme
The Lebrecht Album of the Week has the first review of a premier album of orchestral and film music by George Martin, the Beatles’ man behind the glass wall.
How good a musician was the Beatles’ producer? I talked to George Martin three or four times and, while I found him very likeable, was unimpressed by his musical curiosity. Like many other producers I knew at Abbey Road, he was a purposeful fixer who knew what needed to be done to make a track work and which of London’s hundreds of freelancers he had to call in to patch up a session that, somehow, lacked the finishing touch. String quartet for ‘Yesterday’, piccolo trumpet for ‘Penny Lane’, George Martin knew who to call and how to integrate them. He had a quirky turn of mind, rather than an original concept.
Source: Slipped Disc
